It was her.

Chen Luobai walked to the back door of Class 3 and knocked gently.

Evening self-study had already begun, and several students turned their heads at the sound.

Ignoring the other gazes, Chen Luobai focused on Zong Kai, who sat in the last row of the first column. “Let’s talk.”

Zong Kai put down his pen. “I’ve been waiting for you. Let’s go.”

They walked down the stairs in silence until Zong Kai spoke first, “Where should we talk?”

Chen Luobai hadn’t thought about it. He glanced at the sports field across from them, unusually empty without the athletes training tonight.

“Let’s go to the field,” he suggested.

Zong Kai nodded, “Alright.”

On the field, Chen Luobai leaned against the soccer goalpost.

The weather had been stuffy all day, but a wind picked up in the evening, hinting at impending rain.

“Why?” Chen Luobai asked softly.

Zong Kai paused before answering, “I told you, I wanted to help you.”

Chen Luobai looked up. “I thought we were brothers.”

The field fell silent again.

Only the rustling of leaves from the trees behind them could be heard in the wind.

After a long moment, Zong Kai replied quietly, “I wanted Yi Zhen to get over you sooner.”

“You’re the one who kept bringing her around me,” Chen Luobai kicked a small pebble at his feet. “Whether before or after you guessed her feelings, I never initiated a conversation with her. If you wanted her to get over me, couldn’t you have just told me directly?”

Since hearing about the incident in Class 2, or rather, since placing that “love letter” in Zhou An’ran’s book, Zong Kai had been waiting for Chen Luobai to confront him.

He had hoped Chen Luobai would come to argue or even fight with him. They might have been able to remain friends afterward. But Chen Luobai’s calm demeanor told him that something had likely become irreparable.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

He had hesitated, and considered asking for help directly, but his foolish pride had prevented him from speaking up.

“I was selfish. I didn’t think—”

He had imagined many possibilities.

But he never expected to be caught red-handed by the disciplinary director.

“…I’m sorry.”

Chen Luobai’s mind flashed to a pale, small face. “I’m not the one you should apologize to most.”

“How is she now?” Zong Kai asked. “Has she returned to class? I should go apologize to her.”

Chen Luobai replied, “Teacher Zhao kept her behind.”

The disciplinary director of Fu Zhong was surnamed Zhao, called Zhao Qiming.

“Why would Teacher Zhao keep her? This has nothing to do with her. Didn’t you tell him the truth?” Zong Kai looked at Chen Luobai in surprise.

But the dim light on the field made the boy’s expression unclear.

“I didn’t have the chance.”

Zong Kai didn’t understand. “What do you mean, you didn’t have the chance?”

Chen Luobai didn’t answer. Instead, he suddenly looked back.

From this spot, he could still see where he had crouched to tie his shoelaces last Friday, and the entrance to the teaching building where that slender figure in a black dress had run in.

“It was her who brought me medicine that night, wasn’t it?”

“It was,” Zong Kai admitted this time, not claiming to forget. Chen Luobai’s tone was certain; it wasn’t a question. “She might like you.”

Chen Luobai turned his gaze back. “I know.”

If he didn’t realize it by now, he’d be more than just blind.

“Why didn’t you stay with her at the office?” Zong Kai suddenly asked.

Chen Luobai replied, “She was upset.”

After saying that tearful sentence, she truly started crying.

As soon as he spoke, she cried even harder, just like…

Just like that day on the rooftop.

Teacher Zhao, having dealt with so many students over the years, must have noticed and asked him to leave first.

After leaving the office, his mind was in chaos. He wandered for a while, and only when he had calmed down slightly did he remember he should find Zong Kai to clarify the situation before deciding what to do next.

Zong Kai closed his eyes briefly. “I’ll go with you to explain to Teacher Zhao. This whole thing has nothing to do with either of you.”

“I don’t know—” Chen Luobai paused.

Zong Kai had never heard him sound so hesitant and confused. “What don’t you know?”

“Never mind.” Chen Luobai put one hand in his pocket and straightened up. “Let’s go check on her first. We’ll figure out how to explain later.”

When they reached Zhao Qiming’s office, they found the door closed and the lights off inside.

Fortunately, the door of the adjacent office suddenly opened.

Chen Luobai called out to the person coming out, “Teacher Li, is Teacher Zhao not in his office?”

“Are you looking for Director Zhao?” Teacher Li replied. “Director Zhao had to go home for something.”

Chen Luobai asked, “What about the girl he called to his office earlier?”

“That girl? I think her parents picked her up,” Teacher Li said.

Chen Luobai was stunned. “Why would her parents pick her up?”

“I think she was quite upset, so Old Zhao called her parents. They happened to be nearby,” Teacher Li had other matters to attend to and didn’t want to chat further. “I’m not sure about the details. You should ask Director Zhao directly tomorrow.”

Teacher Li hurried towards the stairs.

The office building was always quieter than the teaching building. For a moment, it seemed only the sound of hurried footsteps remained.

Zong Kai looked at Chen Luobai, whose face was still half-hidden in shadow. “Don’t worry yet. I’ll come with you tomorrow morning to explain to Director Zhao.”

The footsteps faded away.

The office building fell completely silent.

After a long while, Zong Kai still hadn’t heard him respond.

*

That night, as expected, a heavy rain fell over South City. It continued into the next day, though the downpour had eased somewhat.

Rainy days often caused traffic jams.

Chen Luobai deliberately left much earlier than usual but still got stuck in traffic for a long time. By the time he reached school, only ten minutes remained before morning self-study began.

He entered through the back door, put down his umbrella, and noticed that the seat in the fourth row of the second column was empty.

Chen Luobai didn’t know what time she usually arrived at school.

Before the day before yesterday, he hadn’t even noticed where she sat this semester.

Her deskmate wasn’t there either.

The boy in front of her had arrived, though.

Chen Luobai walked to her desk.

The girl’s books were neatly arranged on her desk by height and color, except for an English textbook lying haphazardly in the middle.

The love letter from yesterday was reportedly tucked inside her English book.

Chen Luobai leaned against her desk and tapped the shoulder of the boy sitting in front of her.

“Luo-ge.” The boy in front, named Yang Hong, turned around, surprised to see him. “What’s up? Do you need something?”

“Zhou An’ran hasn’t arrived yet?” Chen Luobai asked him.

Yang Hong was caught off guard by the question about Zhou An’ran, but remembering yesterday afternoon’s unresolved rumors, he figured it made sense. “Not yet.”

Chen Luobai: “What time does she usually come?”

Yang Hong thought for a moment: “I’m not sure. I’m not close to her, and we didn’t sit near each other before. But she’s been coming quite early these past few days.”

Chen Luobai lowered his eyes without speaking, lost in thought.

Yang Hong was usually on good terms with him and wanted to inquire about his relationship with Zhou An’ran. They seemed to have never spoken before, so how did it suddenly progress to writing love letters? But seeing his expressionless face, unlike his usual smiling demeanor, Yang Hong didn’t dare to ask.

However, the boy next to him turned and asked, “Luo-ge, are you looking for Zhou An’ran?”

Chen Luobai nodded.

The boy said, “She usually comes with Yan Xingqian, but I saw Yan Xingqian arrive alone when I came in today. Just now, Zhang Shuxian… Zhou An’ran’s deskmate came in and seemed to get a phone call. She hurriedly put down her bag and rushed off, sounding like she was going to find Yan Xingqian on the sixth floor.”

“Which classroom is Yan Xingqian in?” Chen Luobai asked him.

“Yan Xingqian is in Liberal Arts Class 1 now, the first classroom on the right on the sixth floor.”

“Thanks,” Chen Luobai straightened up and was about to leave through the front door when he saw someone blocking his way.

Lou Yiqi bravely stood in front of him, wanting to explain yesterday afternoon’s incident. She opened her mouth: “Yesterday, I—”

She only managed three words before being silenced by a cold glance from the boy in front of her.

Because she hung out with Yin Yizhen, Lou Yiqi had the opportunity to eat with him a few times.

Although Chen Luobai was never warm towards girls and always maintained his distance, he was at least polite even when aloof.

This was the first time Lou Yiqi had seen him so cold, his tone equally frosty.

“You seem to know better than me whose names I remember.”

Lou Yiqi’s breath caught in her throat.

Chen Luobai didn’t spare her another glance. He sidestepped her and walked straight out the front door.

Zhu Ran had just reached the front door when he saw him striding towards the stairs.

“A-Luo, where are you going?”

Zhu Ran called out, but seeing no response, he hurriedly put down his umbrella in the classroom and quickly followed.

Chen Luobai reached the sixth floor and before he got to the first classroom on the right, he saw three girls leaning against the railing in the distance, talking. The one in the middle had her head lowered as if crying.

He suddenly had a bad feeling.

As he got closer, Chen Luobai realized it wasn’t just the middle one crying; all three girls had red eyes, though the one in the center was crying the hardest.

Although he didn’t remember the names of the girls in his class well, he could generally match faces after being classmates for a year.

Chen Luobai looked at the one in the middle: “Yan Xingqian, has Zhou An’ran not come today?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the girl crying so hard she could barely breathe looked up and glared at him: “She’s transferring schools. Are you satisfied now?”

“What did you—” Chen Luobai paused, as if he hadn’t understood the sentence, “say?”

Zhou An’ran had been picked up early by He Jiayi last night. Yan Xingqian couldn’t go back with her, and when she got home, she specifically went to Zhou An’ran’s house, only to be told by He Jiayi that Zhou An’ran was already asleep.

She was worried, so she got up early today. Instead of waiting downstairs as usual, she went to Zhou An’ran’s house to go to school together, only to learn from He Jiayi that Zhou An’ran was transferring schools. She also learned about the secret Zhou An’ran had kept for over a year.

Just yesterday, they had made plans with Zhou An’ran to eat hotpot together sometime soon. Today, without any warning, her best friend was suddenly transferred to a school in another city.

From elementary school until now, she had never been apart from Zhou An’ran for too long.

Yan Xingqian knew that Zhou An’ran’s transfer also had to do with her family situation and couldn’t be entirely blamed on Chen Luobai, but besides blaming him, she didn’t know who else to blame at the moment.

She sniffled: “I should have known. Last semester’s basketball game, why she wanted to secretly help you, why she suddenly started watching games with Uncle Zhou for no reason.”

“You mean—” Chen Luobai suddenly looked up at her, his throat tightening, “It was her who helped me during last semester’s game?”

Xing Xiaowen, calmer than Yan Xingqian, quickly tugged at Yan Xingqian’s arm when she heard this.

Yan Xingqian had been crying all morning and her mind was a bit foggy. Only now did she suddenly realize: “No, you heard wrong. We need to go in now.”

Chen Luobai stood still, watching as something fell out of Yan Xingqian’s school uniform pocket as she moved.

He didn’t pay attention at first until the small object rolled to his feet.

Chen Luobai lowered his gaze slightly and saw it was a piece of candy. The wrapper had a small lemon and some Japanese characters on it.

Zhang Shuxian tugged at Yan Xingqian’s sleeve: “Qianqian, you dropped something.”

Yan Xingqian turned back, and upon seeing the candy on the ground, her emotions seemed to suddenly collapse again. She half-crouched down, her voice choked with sobs: “Wuwuwu, this is the candy An’ran bought for me.”

Zhu Ran had chased Chen Luobai to the second floor but couldn’t find him. He went back to the classroom to ask around and learned that Chen Luobai had gone up to the sixth floor to find Yan Xingqian. Only then did he follow.

When he reached the Liberal Arts Class 1 classroom, Zhu Ran saw Chen Luobai standing in the hallway, his head lowered, his expression unclear.

Not knowing the situation, Zhu Ran could only remind him: “A-Luo, morning self-study is about to start. Let’s go down first.”

“Zhu Ran,” Chen Luobai raised his head, “That day, the day before the final exams last semester, when did the rumor about me and Yin Yizhen going on a date alone to the arcade start spreading?”

Zhu Ran was taken aback: “Why are you suddenly asking about this? Let me think… The person who messaged me seemed to say it had been spreading for a while already. It probably started not long after classes ended that afternoon. Why?”

“It’s nothing, just…” Chen Luobai’s hand at his side slowly clenched. His voice grew soft, almost as if he were talking to himself, “I might know why she cried that day.”